


Always

by littlebitofchaos



Category: DCU (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Canon Bisexual Character, Caring, Crying, Developing Relationship, Dissociation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Kaldur'ahm-centric (DCU), M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Multi, Multiple Partners, OT6, Other, Pansexual Character, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Superhero life is hard, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 08:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29747562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlebitofchaos/pseuds/littlebitofchaos
Summary: It took a bit, but he realized. Always. They were his team. They are his partners.
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Dick Grayson/Kaldur'ahm/Kon-El | Conner Kent/M'gann Morzz/Wally West
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Always

**Author's Note:**

> Warning I guess: I wouldn't quite call this dissociation from what I know about it but Kaldur is kinda out of it in this. I also describe anxiety in the story but it is the kind of anxiety that people who suffer from constant anxiety know what I'm talking about. Some may not see it as anxiety, since I don't in detail describe the original feeling, so see it as you want. 
> 
> Feel free to leave comments and tell me your thoughts (no hate) <3

They could all see it. He may have been their team leader, but he was also their friend their partner. They could all see it.   
For the entire day, Kaldur had been full of anxiety. There was no cause. It was just there. It worried them most during the mission. The mission. They could all feel it. Waves of anxiety rolling like a tsunami through the link. The mission. It did not end well. Too much worry. Too much anxiety. They could all feel it.  
They could see it. As the blame fell upon Aqualad. The team leader. They could see it as Batman yelled about the mission. As Aqualad was pressed and pressed. As if the weight of the ocean was crushing him. Even an Atlantean can only survive for so long in the ocean trench.   
“Kaldur?” Her voice was hesitant, soft, kind, gentle, caring, worried. As it always was when one of her partners was having a hard time.   
“Mh.” He hummed in response. Mind far away. Deep in the depths of the ocean. Where there is no motion. Is no true sound. Still staring where Batman had stood only moments ago. Only just recognizing that he was being spoken to.   
The others faintly noticed how by calling him Kaldur, not Aqualad, they were pulling him away. He was not Aqualad anymore. Not his hero persona. He was Kaldur'ahm now. Letting him be himself. ~~His team~~ His partners moved to stand in front of him. His shoulders tense, standing tall with a posture only he and Artemis usually had.   
~~Miss Martian~~ M’gann surged forward to hug him. Wrapping her deep green arms around him. He responded loosely, melting into the embrace. His arms did not reach around her waist to return the gesture. He simply stood there. Slightly more relaxed than before but only slightly.  
It was ~~Superboy~~ Conner who came up behind him. Wrapping strong and powerful arms around his waist like the martian at his front. Those arms, wrapping around him from behind, could break him. That faint thought filtering through his exhausted mind. M’gann let go of him. He could only feel as Conner gently lifted his body, as if he was nothing more than a feather, and carried him in his arms. Kaldur loosely felt himself bury his head into the Kryptonian's neck. There was murmuring around him but he could not hear. He could not hear. He could barely feel the arms that held him. The tears rolling down his cheeks.   
He faintly realized that he was no longer in Conner’s arms. Well, he was still in Conner’s arms but he was no longer being carried. No. They were on the couch in the cave’s living room. The Kryptonian still held him but he registered Artemis and ~~Robin~~ ~~Nightwing~~ Dick on either side of him. He could hear shuffling in the kitchen. M’gann, cooking maybe. He slightly lifted his head from where it rested in the crook of Conner’s neck. Glancing into the kitchen he saw ~~Kid Flash~~ Wally helping M’gann make dinner, he noticed a kettle on the stove as well. Wally didn’t usually help her make dinner. He was too distracting, stealing food and making a mess. Wally was the only person who usually didn’t help M’gann make dinner. It was always one of them. Or more than one. They helped her.  
Sometimes they would make dinner together. And even if the food wasn’t always good it always made the night more interesting. Brought smiles and laughter and all the best kinds of feelings. The ones that made him feel whole.  
“Kaldur,” that was Artemis. Despite what everyone thought, she was often the most nurturing. While M’gann always made sure they were eating, drinking water, getting sleep, Artemis took care of them in a more mental way. She helped them relax. She had calmed all of them from nightmares in the past. He would never admit it but it was probably her self-sacrificing nature. To take care of them. Avoid her own nightmares. But what could he say about self-sacrifice?   
“Kal? Here. Drink this.” A bottle of water was pressed to his lips. He hadn’t noticed how dehydrated he was until then. Quickly gulping it down until he was forced to slow down. Dick placed his hand on his leg and his other reached up to grasp the bottle.  
“Hey, hey, slow down there.” Kaldur released the bottle from his grasp.   
He leaned back. Relaxing his head and legs, his body and mind. He felt his head land in Artemis’s lap. Her denim jeans felt nice against his cheek when he turned his head. ~~When had she changed into civies?~~ His legs stretched out into Dick’s lap. His torso remained on Conner’s. He felt fingers rub at his temples and neck and shoulders. Different hands rubbed the sore muscles in his legs. He felt a heavy hand splay over his abdomen, his chest, his heart. ~~Feeling for his heartbeat.~~ He listened. Just barley. Sweet nothings being whispered to him. Rustling in the kitchen. Breathing. The breath of his partners around him. Like a lullaby made just for him. More relaxing than the sound of rolling waves. Than songs of the whales.   
“Wake up, Kal. Kal, wake up.” ~~When had he fallen asleep?~~   
He could now smell the food from the kitchen. Dinner was ready. He rose from his place on his partners’ laps, rising from the couch on trembling feet. Wally was in the kitchen. Wally was catching him. Holding him. Keeping him from falling on the living room floor. He was far more physically exhausted than he thought.   
Someone helped him into a makeshift dining room. He didn’t know they had a dining room of any sort. Just a simple table and chairs, but dinner was served. He didn’t quite pay attention to what they were eating. He just ate it. He had been so hungry and he didn’t even notice.   
It wasn’t until the food on the table was cleared and he sat with ~~his partners~~ his loves that he felt he could speak coherently.   
Lifting his head, attempting to catch eyes with the five before him. Trying to express it all with two words. “Thank you.”  
As if in a chorus, not an echo but a unanimous voice. They all spoke. “Always.” Always.   
He rose from his chair at the table, they all tensed as if ready to rush up and catch him at any moment. But he stood by himself, shaking legs or not. “I-”   
“We know.” Artemis.   
Of course they know. Constantly mentally connected. A connection that extended beyond projected thoughts. It was a connection that became emotional, became what this was. More than a team. And they knew him. They knew what he meant and he knew that he didn’t need to thank them. Always. They’d be there for him. The same way he was there for all of them. Always. 


End file.
